Apache OpenOffice Community Forum

I insert a column, and it turns out to be a different style than I wanted, say currency where I want simple numbers. I select the column and press cmd-1, or select "cells..." from the Format menu. OpenOffice crashes. It happens repeatedly. Any suggestions?
OSX El Capitan Version 10.11
MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2011)
Processor 1.7 Ghz Intel Core i5
Memory 4 GB 13333 MHz DDR3

Hi, and welcome to the forum.

You should first try Reset the user profile. This has been known to fix many mysterious problems.

If this answered your question please go to your first post use the Edit button and add [Solved] to the start of the title. You can select the green checkmark icon at the same time.

The instructions you refer to seem only to address Windows installations, and don't apply to me. Are there descriptions for Mac?

Read the referenced file again. You can use a search function to search for Mac if you can't find it.

When you insert a column or row it has the same formatting as one of its neighbours, I think probably the preceding column or row.

Still nothing to solve this issue?

From the tutorial linked by Mr Programmer :

For Mac users:

/Users/<user name>/Library/Application Support/OpenOffice/4/user or /Users/<user name>/Library/Application Support/OpenOffice.org/3/user
NB: on OS X version 10.7.xx (Lion) the user/library can be accessed in finder by holding down the option key an clicking on Go on the menubar. Then select the user library.
This is one of nineteen ways to see the user library. See 18 ways to view the ~/Library folder in Lion


NB: version 3 profile has slightly changed from the 2.x branch, a directory level has been added, former profile was ...\OpenOffice.org2\user\.

Thank you Kingfisher for the details! I did the renaming for the "user" folder. The problem still remains.
And there’s no "extensions.pmap" or "extensions.db" in my /user/extensions/bundled/ folder.
I might have to uninstall + reinstall OpenOffice

Those files may be present only if you have installed extensions; I don't know but it seems likely.

Reinstalling may help. Version 4.1.2 has been released. I always remove the old installation completely even though that is supposed to be unnecessary.

What size is the file with which you are having trouble? Or is more than one file affected?

Hi Kingfisher,

I have reinstalled the latest OpenOffice version (4.1.2). I have also restarted my computer while pressing cmd+r in order to repair my disk (with Disk Utility). Then I have run some Onyx maintenance actions.
The issue remains. Even when just starting a new blank spreadsheet and pressing cmd+1 (without doing anything else): it crashes.

M-Design wrote:The issue remains. :( Even when just starting a new blank spreadsheet and pressing cmd+1 (without doing anything else): it crashes.

See if the problem remains when you use the program from a different account on your Mac. You should have a guest account ( > System Preferences > Accounts > Guest Account > Allow guests to log in) even if you didn't create any others than the account you're using.

MrProgrammer: that's interesting -> the problem doesn't occur from another account!

M-Design wrote:MrProgrammer: that's interesting -> the problem doesn't occur from another account!

That means that the problem is with your account, not with the Open Office software. What could be wrong with the account? Based on forum posts that I've seen in the last several years the most likely problem is a corrupted user profile. Depending on what versions of the software you've installed on your Mac there could be multiple user profiles. Deleting one which isn't being used won't solve the problem. The best thing would be to delete all of the user profile files that you can find which are mentioned in the tutorial. Another thing to check is the file's date. If you've used Open Office to change a file today and you've enabled OpenOffice → Prefereces → Load/Save → General → Always create backup copy, the user/backup folder of the active profile should have today's date. That's the profile you need to delete. If you didn't enable that option, you should unless you have some other reliable backup method.

The other potential problem with the account is having other applications running which conflict with Open Office. I can't help you a lot with that except to suggest that you start the Mac in Safe Mode (Finder → Help → Search → Safe Mode), sign on to your account, start only Open Office, and see if the problem occurs. If not you probably have a conflicting appliction running. If you want to use Open Office you'll have to determine which one it is by trial and error (perhaps one of your System Preferences → Users and Groups → Login Items) and disable it.

If this solved your problem please go to your first post use the Edit button and add [Solved] to the start of the title. You can select the green checkmark icon at the same time.

Hello MrProgrammer,

Thank you again for your details answer!
I’m keeping my investigations to determine the source of the problem.
I’ve deleted OpenOffice using AppCleaner, then run some automation functions on Onyx, then restarted my Mac and reinstalled a freshly downloaded version of OpenOffice. The problem is still there. Then, as you suggested, I’ve restarted my Mac in Safe Mode: OpenOffice was functioning correctly under that mode (no crash when pressing cmd+1). Else, it’s crashing on normal mode, even without other applications launched (just the Finder).
Otherwise, I’ve activated the "Always create backup copy" option, which is a good thing (but will unfortunately not prevent OpenOffice from crashing). I don’t know which user profile I should delete now because erasing an app with AppCleaner is supposed to clean them all, right?

M-Design wrote:I don’t know which user profile I should delete now because erasing an app with AppCleaner is supposed to clean them all, right?

I don't use AppCleaner so I can't answer that. Just delete all of the profiles that you find. And start with a fresh profile anytime you (re)install Open Office.

M-Design wrote: I’ve restarted my Mac in Safe Mode: OpenOffice was functioning correctly under that mode

Some customization of your account is causing the problem. A tool that intercepts clipboard operations? Backup software? A tool that intercepts keyboard operations? Automation software? I have no idea what Onyx is. Perhaps it did something to your account so that it operates in a way that Open Office isn't expecting. Think back about what you've installed. You can reset items in ~/Library/Preferences (note the ~ meaning "current user") to their default values by deleting the relevant file, since it will be rebuilt from /Library/Preferences (note the lack of ~) the next time it is needed. I have no advice to offer about which preferences might be good candidates for tests. Some searches of the Mac OSX forum may give you some ideas. Be sure to look at your Users and Groups → Login Items since those get started automatically.

Thank you very much once again MrProgrammer for your help on this issue!
I will check following your recommendations and update here if something solves the problem.